Rebirth: Different Way [(重生) 殊途]

Chapter 16

"Shen Xi and Li Mingxuan meet at night to have a very pleasant talk. The Li family bets on Shen Sanshao!"

The large headline was eye-catching and titillating on the front page of the newspaper.

Below the headline was a candid photo, with the hotel where Shen Xi was staying in the background. In the photo, Li Mingxuan and Shen Xi could be clearly seen standing together, and from the angle the photo was taken, Li Mingxuan was turning sideways to talk to Shen Xi with a smile on his face.

This was a newspaper that came out today, and it was placed in front of Li Mingxuan.

Li Mingxuan's eyes did not linger on the sensational headline, but fell directly on the photo below it.

From the photo, the smile on his face was obvious, and it was clear he was in a good mood at the time. Li Mingxuan's expression was slightly stunned for a moment. He remembered that he was just chatting with Shen Xi, but perhaps he didn't realise that his expression would be so relaxed. Without the suspicion and defensiveness of their first meeting on the plane, Li Mingxuan felt he could treat Shen Xi as a cousin just like Shen Cheng, as long as Shen Xi...

Li Mingxuan did not continue with this thought. Subconsciously, he did not want to maliciously guess the purpose of Shen Xi's return anymore. In fact, Shen Xi did not do anything after he came back. His relationship with his father was as bad as ever, and Li Mingxuan's heart had a vague feeling of relief.

The phone rang right in time, interrupting Li Mingxuan's thoughts. Shen Ji's voice was full of exhaustion.

"Mingxuan, I'm sorry!"

This was the first time that Shen Ji said sorry to Li Mingxuan in all the years they had known each other. Although Shen Ji did not explain, both of them knew what he was sorry for.

Li Mingxuan laughed silently, a little bitterly. The incident last night had obviously left a mark on the two of them. Otherwise, based on their friendship, Shen Ji would have passed it off as a slip of the tongue and there would be no need to apologise.

With a deep sigh in his heart, Li Mingxuan said, "Ah Ji, you know I didn't take it to heart."

Li Mingxuan's voice was no different from the past, and Shen Ji seemed to relax, his tone much lighter than before, "Well, I know, we are brothers for life."

Li Mingxuan's eyes once again fell on the newspaper in front of him, and after a momentary pause, Li Mingxuan repeated in a heavier voice, "Yes, we are brothers for life."

Hanging up the phone, Li Mingxuan looked at the table with complicated eyes and stretched out his hand to cover up the newspaper on top.

On the other side, Shen Ji held the silent phone and looked at the newspaper in front of him with the same complicated eyes. Li Mingxuan's smile in the newspaper bothered him deeply.

Shen Ji read the report over and over again with a grim face, then suddenly crumpled the newspaper into a ball and threw it far away. His mind kept repeating Li Mingxuan's words just now – we are brothers for life.

Shen Ji took a deep breath and raised his head to look at the ceiling unconsciously. The past twenty years or so spent side by side with Li Mingxuan flashed through his mind like a silent old movie. Shen Ji closed his eyes. They were brothers for life. He shouldn't have doubted Li Mingxuan. All this was just a reporter's fabrication.

But there was always a voice in Shen Ji's heart asking why Mingxuan had appeared in front of Shen Xi after they had separated last night.

This question hovered in the back of Shen Ji's mind like a magic spell, and he left the house with his coat in his hand, distraught.